Today’s episode critiques traditional safety education for autistic adolescents, arguing that it fails by prioritising social performance and compliance over recognising the inherent wisdom of the individual’s instincts. Author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks proposes a paradigm shift, advocating for a focus on relational sovereignty rooted in a matristic ethic of communal care and trust. Safety is taught by helping teens identify coercive dynamics through concrete pattern recognition (like the loop of charm, confusion, and blame) and by anchoring red flags to bodily and sensory cues. Instead of behaviourist role-playing, Dr. Hoerricks promotes the use of rehearsal techniques and short sovereignty scripts to establish boundaries and allow self-trust during moments of pressure. Crucially, she asserts that long-term safety requires a shift toward an ecological commons, demanding that schools and communities dismantle hierarchical structures that enable harm instead of placing the entire burden of prevention on the teen.

Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/teaching-danger-without-teaching

Let me know what you think.

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